


Two Peas in a Pod

by glymr, irrelevant



Series: Sawdust and Spangles [4]
Category: Batman (Comics), DCU (Comics), Robin (Comics)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-03-24
Updated: 2010-03-24
Packaged: 2018-03-08 21:28:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 518
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3224075
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/glymr/pseuds/glymr, https://archiveofourown.org/users/irrelevant/pseuds/irrelevant
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Batman now has the means to return one child to his parents, if not the other child's parents to him</p>
            </blockquote>





	Two Peas in a Pod

**Author's Note:**

> This part is by irrelevant.

It took him longer to dredge up the memory than it should have. Granted, it's been years. The first time Bruce saw the Flying Graysons perform, the Drake boy was perhaps five years of age. Which, he thinks, ought to have been the defining clue, since six months after Bruce sat next to the Drakes under a circus big top and watched their child stare, spellbound, at the youngest Grayson, that child vanished from Gotham without a trace.  
  
Not even Batman had been able to discover his whereabouts.  
  
Bruce remembers the evening so clearly _because_ of the Drakes. They were in line ahead of him, but Drake had forgotten his wallet, and his wife hadn't had any cash with her. Bruce had looked into the huge, disappointed eyes of their son and offered to pay. In fact, he recalls wryly, he'd paid for everyone in line that evening. One more stunt for "that wacky zillionaire" Wayne.  
  
The second time Bruce watched the Graysons perform, the act was cut brutally short. Batman came and went, promising Richard Grayson justice. But when Bruce Wayne went to offer the boy his condolences and worldly assistance, he found himself confronted by not one child but two.  
  
Two boys, black haired and blue eyed. Alike as two peas in a pod--if not for the age difference, they might have been twins. Something about the younger Grayson pinged Batman's internal alarms, though. Something...  
  
When Dick finally delivered his twofold request, turning down Bruce's offer of a home for the final time, _something_ came to a head. Batman had gone home, gone into the Cave database and thrown two photos up onto the screen.  
  
Cowl pushed back, Bruce frowns at the screen. Even without the age progression program, the evidence is irrefutable. Batman now has the means to return one child to his parents, if not the other child's parents to him.  
  
Bruce... is still stalling. He can't get the picture of two boys, clinging to each other, out of his head. Parents--the _loss_ of parents is a destructive force in the life of a child. But a sibling. In strictly genetic terms, a child is closer to his siblings than he is to the people who created him.  
  
He wonders, sometimes, what his life would have been if he'd had a brother or sister. One who'd lived. And loath as he is to admit it, not all parents are worthy of the title.  
  
He's never cared for Jack Drake. The man is a pompous jackass. Which doesn't mean he mistreated his son, but...  
  
Six-year-old children don't run away from home for no reason, and the pattern on the screen is proof in and of itself. Neglect is still abuse.  
  
Bruce's finger hovers over _send_. He hits delete instead. Closes all onscreen windows, and hits the comm button.  
  
Alfred says, "You rang, Master Bruce?"  
  
"Contact Jason Bard," Bruce says. "Tell him I have work for him." He closes the line without waiting for a response, then stands, pulling the cowl down. Batman's work is always waiting. Tonight, he has a promise to keep.


End file.
